Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Boarding school for 8 year olds??

Yesterday while laying around on the couch I was flipping thru the channels (shocking, I know) on tv, and something caught my attention. It was called "Leaving Home at 8 Years Old," on BBC America. A reality TV show about sending your kids off to boarding school. Boarding school for your 8 year old? Really?? I can't imagine sending my 8 year old son off to boarding school. I know there are times, when your kids are on your every last nerve...the idea is enticing, but is boarding school at this age really necessary? I have a niece who is in high school that goes to a boarding school, and she really likes it. But that's high school. That's probably every teen's dream, to live away from home away from annoying parents and siblings.

Doesn't sending your young children off into the world at this age send the wrong message? Even if it is the best school around? Mommy and Daddy don't want me around anymore, so they're sending me off to some school where you have to share a room with kids you don't know, and are forced to stay there 24-7??

This reality show takes place in the UK, and the few minutes I watched showed how hard it was in particular for this little girl to adjust being without her parents (duh), and how hard it was for her mother to leave her there as well. The adults working in the school said if the parents want to know how their child is doing, they should call them directly, and not to the house where the kids stay...it just makes it harder on both sides to readjust after speaking to their loved ones, until they have fully adjusted. I wonder how long the typical adjustment period is for the average child who attends that school?

I know, to each their own, but that's not something I could imagine myself doing to Zack. Or Taylor.